Circular Mounted Toenail Cutter

ABSTRACT

A toenail clipping device that provides support for the foot and toes so the toenails can be clipped. The Circular Mounted Toenail Clipper provides a stationary platform for the foot and the clipper is mounted on a rotating bearing assembly. This assembly allows the user to easily position the toenail clipper in relation to the stationary foot by providing a guide for the clipper that allows multiple axis of movement. The toenail clipper is attached to a circular stage and guided through an elongated handle. The circular stage allows the user to rotate the toenail clipper around the active toenail that needs clipping making the task easy. The toenail clipper has a force multiplier incorporated into the elongated handle enabling easy and controllable cutting of toenails.

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of Invention

The invention explained herein relates to the Circular Mounted Toenail Cutter. This is an invention relating to extended handle toenail clippers and specifically to the Circular Mounted Toenail Cutter. This class of extended handle toenail clippers is designed for users that are mobility limited.

DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART

The use of toenail clippers is known in the prior art. The basic toenail clipper is composed of a spring loaded lever designed to be coordinated with the clamping mechanism designed with sharpened opposable jaws. This basic toenail clipper is very universal and used in most of the add-on extended handle devices in use today. The limitation of these extended handle supplemental devices is the limited ability to control the toenail clipper in free space.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,340 to Rains and U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,677 to West are examples of extended reach toenail clippers. These require a high degree of dexterity to accomplish the end result of clipping toenails. There exists many groups of users that have limited dexterity as well as ancillary tremors that make this task very difficult. U.S. Pat. No. 8,356,414 to Wendorf et al. demonstrates a nail cutter that has limited movement and uses a platform to regulate some phases of the foot that is positioned to have access to the toenail cutter. This invention provides some elements needed for toenail access for people of limited motion and dexterity. However the device falls short of the flexibility needed to provide a full range of motion necessary for the task of clipping a toenail and does not provide any extended handle for access. The Circular Mounted Toenail Cutter is designed to eliminate these problems by providing a fixed platform for the foot. Additionally, this platform is set up as a guide that stages the active toenail in the center of the work envelope. The actual toenail clipper is attached to an articulating linear guide that is attached to a rotating platform. The toenail cutter assembly has an extended handle that guides the toenail clipper to the correct alignment to cut the designated toenail. This is accomplished through the preferential layout that is designed to get the toenail clipper in proximity to the foot and subsequently the toenail in a very straightforward manner.

The Circular Mounted Toenail Cutter is designed to carry out many aspects of the clipping procedure by controlling the foot placement and the toenail clipper proximity. In addition, the extended handle has a force multiplier to ease the cutting force while maintaining a high degree of control.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The general disadvantage of the extended handle toenail clippers is the inherent dexterity needed to operate these devices. The Circular Mounted Toenail Cutter is designed to overcome these limitations by providing a fixed environment designed to enhance the proximity placement needed to clip a toenail. The Circular Mounted Toenail Cutter accomplishes this by providing a combination of stages and a foot rest that acts to ease the coordination of placing the toenail clipper in the correct position on the toenail without injuring the user.

This can be done relatively easy due to the device layout. The heart of the Circular Mounted Toenail Cutter is a circular stage that has the toenail clipper attached to the stage so the clipper is pointed to the foot rest section. This relationship sets the foot rest at the center of the clipping head and by rotating the clipper around the circular stage access to all sides of the toenail becomes very simple. The actual toenail clipper is affixed to a linear sliding stage attached to the circular stage so that the slide axis of the toenail clipper is always facing the center axis.

This linear stage is controlled through an extended handle that provides control of the toenail clipper as well as an easy to use hand grip and lever that provides a force multiplier while giving great control of the toenail clipper. The Circular Mounted Toenail Cutter is designed to provide a solution to users that have limited mobility and limited dexterity. The invention is designed to overcome the limitations in the free space style extended handle toenail clippers available today by providing a platform that exerts control over the foot and clipper position and proximity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention can be better visualized and the concepts more apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description:

FIG. 1 is perspective view of the Circular Mounted Toenail Cutter in the preferred embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the Circular Mounted Toenail Cutter.

FIG. 3 is top view of the preferred embodiment of the Circular Mounted Toenail Cutter.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the lower segment of the Circular Mounted Toenail Cutter.

FIG. 5 Is a rear elevation of the lower segmant of the Circular Mounted Toenail Cutter.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to drawings FIG. 1 through FIG. 3, the Circular Mounted Toenail Cutter embodying the principles and concepts of the present invention and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described.

In FIG. 1 and the exploded version in FIG. 2 the Circular Mounted Toenail Cutter is shown in the perspective view and comprising a circular base 66 commonly known as a Lazy Susan. The Lazy Susan base 66 forms the platform for the Circular Mounted Toenail Cutter and the first stage platform 56 is fastened to the upper movable ring of Lazy Susan 66. The platform 56 attaches to the second stage 52 which is comprised of a linear track.

The sliding linear track 52 is further attached to fastening plate 54, this plate is designed to attach to the hinge base segment 40 through a hinged style pivot hinge 32 and under tension from springs 50. Once pin 32 is in place it creates another axis of tilt that ultimately allows the toenail cutter 46 to tilt in relation to the toenail.

Hinge top 48 is attached via hinge bottom 40. The Nail clippers 46 are attached to the hing top 48 by attaching to an adjustment plate 44, the Nail clippers 46 are activated through a hand lever 35 and attached through cable assembly 37 that is attached to lever 42 and articulates via pin 33 attached to the extended handle 20. The Nail clippers 46 are activated when the hand lever 35 is articulated and tilts the lever 42 to open and close the jaws of the Nail clipper 46. The cable assembly 37 is secured to the extended handle 20 using clips 26.

FIG. 4 shows a side elevation that clarifies the hinge and stage movements. The elongated handle 20 has an adjustable threaded rod 30 that raises and lowers the top hinge 48 to allow access to the toenail that needs to be cut. The threaded rod 30 passes through the top hinge plate 48 to rest on the lower hinge plate 40 that enables the top hinge plate 48 to raise or lower as the threaded rod 30 is turned and this is accomplished using a threaded insert 28 fastened to the lower segment of the extended handle 20, this is shown in FIG. 2. The threaded rod 30 is also constrained by the insert 24 placed on the top segment of the extended handle 20.

The extended handle 20 is fastened to the top hinge plate 48 using bracket 22. The whole top assembly that attaches through the extended handle 20 can articulate in three axes. The first axis is the rotatable lazy susan that permits the Nail cutter 46 to access the toenail by swinging around the platform 60 that is the working platform designed to hold the foot and by extension the toenail, to allow access to all sides of the toenail. In FIG. 3 we see arrows that demonstrate this indicated motion from a top perspective. FIG. 3. shows the ability of the Circular Mounted Toenail Cutter to rotate around platform 60 and the foot 75 to allow access to the toenail from any angle. The second axis of motion is provided by the linear track 52 and this permits the Nail clipper 46 to move in as close to the toenail as needed to achieve a cut toenail. The last axis tilts the hinge assembly 48 and 40 that is attached to Nail clipper 46. The hinge pin 32 acts as the pivot axis and allows the extended handle 20 assembly to tilt in order to align the nail clipper 46 with the toenail that needs cut.

FIG. 5 is a rear elevation and this drawing has arrows that demonstrate the axis formed through hinge pin 32 that pemits the handle assembly to tilt along the center line 5. The two springs 50 are constrained between the bottom hinge plate 40 and fastening plate 54 and designed to keep the extended handle 20 assembly in an upright posture once released. The drawings reflected in the preferred embodiment are illustrative of the principles of the invention. It is understood that there exists multiple designs to achieve the underlying principles of the drawings shown. Anyone skilled in the art can modify the preferred embodiment by adjusting the stages and dimensions. Any changes to the configuration that adhere to the principles outlined above is considers to be within the scope of this invention. 

1. A Circular Mounted Toenail Cutter designed for use by users with limited mobility and comprimised dexterity: a conventional nail clipper affixed to a working stage and the actuating lever linked to a hand lever; a circular stage designed to rotate around a fixed axis with a fixed platform rectangular in general shape and affixed to the stationary segment of the said circular stage, said fixed platform is aligned to position the foot of user to approximately the center of the axis of the said circular stage; a second stage designed to affix to the movable rotating axis of the said circular stage and comprised of a linear style stage oriented to always point toward the center of the said circular stage; a third stage attached to the slidable section of the said linear stage and mounted to the lower plate of this hinged stage assembly and oriented along the sliding axis of the said linear stage, oriented along the said sliding stage with the said hinged assemblies hinge facing the outward axis of the circular stage and the elongated upper section of said hinged assembly to have the Toenail Clipper affixed opposite of the hinge and facing the center axis of said circular stage; an elongated shaft is attached in a vertical orientation to the upper hinge section substantially behind the toenail clipper and the said shaft has a pivot and lever attached in proximity to said toenail clipper to act as a control lever to activate the toenail clipper through a cable system that runs along the shaft and attaches to a hand lever style grip that terminates at the top of said shaft, the cable has an outer sheath and an inner cable that transmits the action of the large hand lever grip that terminates on the top of said shaft and controls the said lever to actuate the toenail clipper via a mechanical wire clamp rigging; a threaded rod is inserted in the said shaft and used to control the attitude of the top hinge member so the attached toenail clipper can be aligned to the correct height enabling the toenail clipper access to the stationary user's toenail and the linear and rotating stages act in coordination to position the toenail clipper in the correct alignment to enable the use of the toenail clipper to clip the toenail and perform this action utilizing the ability to rotate around the toe with the circular stage and to move forward or backward along the linear stage enabling the clipper to approach the toenail to be cut.
 2. A Circular Mounted Toenail Cutter as set forth in claim 1 and further including an additional pivot axis attached to the lower hinge plate of the said hinge, this pivot axis is aligned with the said sliding stage and is along the radial axis of the said circular stage and provides the ability to angle the attached toenail clipper through the said shaft with the pivot providing the attachment point for the lower hinge plate and the linear stage to provide the additional axis of motion; a combination of springs entraining the pivot joint are attached under compression to provide the pivot axis the ability to return to an upright position and enable the pivot axis deflection only when the user applies pressure to this axis. 